Background and Features of Japan’s Web3.0 Policy Initiative

Recently, the Japanese government’s aggressive strides toward fostering the Web3 industry have captured global attention. In June 2022, Japan established the world’s first regulatory guidelines for stablecoin issuance and brokerage. One year later, in June 2023, it amended the Payment Services Act, paving a definitive path for banks and trust companies to issue stablecoins. The fact that the NFT Whitepaper and Web3 Whitepaper, released consecutively by Japan’s Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) in 2022 and 2023, were not mere performative announcements is empirically proven by the reality that the majority of the proposals contained within them were codified into actual policies in less than a year. The publication of these whitepapers was, in essence, a powerful policy manifesto signaling the Japanese government’s resolute commitment to nurturing the Web3 sector. Through this exclusive interview with Dominic Jang, Director at Oasys, our assessment that Japan has weaponized Web3 as a pillar of its strategic industrial policy has been thoroughly validated. Because Web3 is an intangible domain, unlike legacy sectors such as semiconductors or secondary batteries, its latent potential can easily be underestimated; however, the structural weight and industrial significance of the digital economy are projected to expand exponentially over time. Currently, South Korea maintains a competitive edge over Japan in terms of digital development capabilities, global enterprise competitiveness, and societal dynamism. Nevertheless, if Japan—the world’s third-largest economic power—continues to close the gap through comprehensive, pan-governmental Web3 initiatives, South Korea's relative advantage risks evaporating entirely within a few years. As the Web3 market is still in its nascent infancy, there is no pre-existing standard textbook for policy formulation. However, Japan’s precedent demonstrates that pioneering institutional remediation secures global leadership, whereas lagging behind forces a nation to react passively, incurring severe risks of failing to capture the strategic high ground. We anticipate that South Korea will accelerate its institutional overhauls to rapidly build the legal infrastructure necessary for enterprises to enter the market. Above all, South Korea is a uniquely positioned nation equipped with world-class IT prowess, exceptional human capital, formidable cultural content, and a trendsetting national sensibility. It is our hope that the Web3 ecosystem we pursue will evolve dynamically and diversely, organically interweaving corporations, government agencies, civil organizations, and individual participants. We sincerely hope that this interview with Oasys serves as a valuable framework for understanding Japan’s Web3 policies and for constructing a highly competitive Web3 ecosystem in South Korea.